Lockyer's ex says: 'Bigger story than sex tapes'

Updated 12:39 pm, Thursday, March 14, 2013

Bill Lockyer arrives with his wife Nadia. Leading Democrats, including Dianne Feinstein, Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer and Bill Lockyer attend a Democratic Party election night rally at Delancey St. Restaurant, Town Hall Rm., 600 Embarcadero, San Francisco. on Nov. 7, 2006. less

Bill Lockyer arrives with his wife Nadia. Leading Democrats, including Dianne Feinstein, Jerry Brown, Barbara Boxer and Bill Lockyer attend a Democratic Party election night rally at Delancey St. Restaurant, ... more

Photo: Chris Stewart, The Chronicle

Lockyer's ex says: 'Bigger story than sex tapes'

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The man at the center of the sex and substance-abuse scandal engulfing Nadia Lockyeris "not a stalker" and never assaulted the Alameda County supervisor, contrary to what her state treasurer husband has told the press.

That was the assertion Tuesday of Adrienne Dell, the attorney representing Stephen Chikhani in a recent arrest for allegedly being under the influence of methamphetamine.

Chikhani, 35, a construction worker who lives in San Jose and has a long record of drug arrests, broke his public silence about his relationship to Lockyer on Tuesday - blurting out to reporters after a court appearance in San Jose that "there's a way bigger story than the sex tapes" that we're told star him and the 40-year-old county supervisor.

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What Chikhani meant, according to his lawyer, was that there was more to his relationship with Lockyer than is being portrayed in the media.

"This is a young man with no political power, facing some serious allegations by people with lots of political clout," Dell said.

Chikhani met Lockyer in 2010, when they were both in rehab - he for meth and she for alcohol. The two had an off-and-on affair that became public after she called police to the Homewood Suites in Newark early Feb. 3 to report that he had assaulted her.

Lockyer's husband, state Treasurer and longtime Democratic Party powerhouse Bill Lockyer, says his wife was trying to help Chikhani that night. He has alternately described Chikhani as being a stalker or suicidal and in need of help.

We've learned that Bill Lockyer was sent a sex tape of his wife with Chikhani some weeks before the hotel incident. He concluded he was being blackmailed to allow their relationship to continue and went to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley, a friend, to try to get a stay-away order imposed.

Prosecutors declined, saying the relationship between Chikhani and Nadia Lockyer appeared to be consensual.

It was only after the Newark incident went public several days after it happened that O'Malley handed off the criminal assault investigation to the state attorney general. In addition to her personal ties to the Lockyers, O'Malley worked with Nadia Lockyer in setting up a domestic violence unit in the D.A.'s office.

As for the current state of the Chikhani-Nadia Lockyer relationship? Unclear - but they're both back where they were in 2010, in rehab.

Leaky cup: The bottom line with the America's Cup rollback is that the race just doesn't look like it's going to be as big as expected.

Organizers had hoped that at least nine teams would compete in the mega-yacht race next year. So far, however, only four have committed.

Fewer teams means less dock space is needed to house the boats - for which the plan was to hand over Piers 30-32 south of the Bay Bridge to Larry Ellison's America's Cup authority. The group would have rehabbed the decaying pier in exchange for development rights.

However, the cost of that rehab had doubled to $100 million, cutting into the profit Ellison hoped to earn down the line.

As one official close to the talks noted, "Not even billionaires like losing that kind of money."

They're back: About 30 Occupiers quietly reappeared at Justin Herman Plaza the other night, sending chills down the spine of San Francisco officials who spent months trying to negotiate an end to group's takeover of the square a few months back.

Truth be told, the Occupiers never really went away. They have been meeting regularly in front of the Federal Reserve building just down the street.

Occupy activist Chance Martinsaid he had told a friend he missed gathering at Justin Herman for the group's general assembly. So he and his colleagues went back - staying just outside the barriers that still cordon off the grass - while a Department of Public Works crew, assigned to keep an eye on the plaza, looked on from a truck.

The Occupy people haven't set up a camp - yet.

"We are planning a very, very active summer. We are not going away," Martin said.

Does that include another encampment?

"It might," he said.

When told of possible re-Occupation, Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru- whose agency just spent $176,000 cleaning up the park - let out a groan.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

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